Even if you're hesitant to upgrade to Google Analytics 4, you'll need to do it sooner rather than later. 2023 will officially usher in the new Google Analytics. But what can you expect when finally making the switch and will you need a course in digital marketing for some Google Analytics 4 training? Keep reading to find out!
What Is Google Analytics 4?
Google Analytics (GA) is Google’s very own website analytics platform. GA ultimately lets you monitor and analyse all kinds of traffic on your website. This includes tracking how many people are visiting your site, how they’re getting to your site and their journey through it.
Ultimately, it gives you the necessary insight to understand if your marketing strategies are working, or indeed not working.
Google Analytics 4 used to be known as “App + Web” as a beta property in Google Analytics but today, it’s the default mode.
The most significant change is that GA4 now tracks everything for both websites AND apps.
What Else To Expect in GA4
Tracking app data alongside website data isn’t the only change to Google Analytics. There are several other huge changes to expect in GA4.
Events
Events are a crucial GA4 metric. They’re triggered and logged when people interact with your website or app. This includes things like form submissions, button clicks, or website views.
This happens automatically and GA4 also allows you to automatically collect "enhanced measure events” from the Admin Page.
In the case where you need to track more complex data, you can also write code to track custom events. Analytics Help divides them into Recommended Events and Custom Events for advanced data.
Although Google has predefined names and parameters, Recommended Events would be implemented by the user. Note that it's crucial to confirm whether any other events are currently being tracked or you risk receiving duplicate data!
Engagement Metrics
These new engagement metrics allow you to see how long users stay on your app or website. You can also see which screens or pages had the most traffic and event triggers.
An engaged session includes:
- Staying on the page for 10 seconds or more
- Two page views
- One conversion event
You can now identify the web pages that perform strongest and contain the most engaging content. This also means that your pages with low engagement will be exposed and adjustments can be made accordingly.
Data Integration to BigQuery
BigQuery is a completely managed enterprise data warehouse that aids in data management and analysis. It enables marketers to transform large data into significant business insights. Additionally, it has built-in machine-learning capabilities.
Gaining access to this tool through GA4 will give you an advantage while analysing data!
Unsampled Data & Reports
Any company with a GA4 property can access unsampled data. The amount of sessions you have determines how Google Analytics will sample your reports.
Your report may contain a disclaimer that begins, "This report is based on X sessions," or something similar. This implies that the report is based on data that was sampled. If a report is collecting more than 500,000 sessions, then sampling is done automatically.
Because Google processes so much data every day, they select a random sample of your traffic data in order to process data rapidly. This will accomplish their goals as soon and as accurately as possible.
Extended Segmentations
You can develop more specialised audience segments for your marketing initiatives with GA4 including constructing segments that depend on events. This means you can focus on users and their interactions without needing to break down user data by platform or device. You may also incorporate the idea of time and examine things like the number of times customers spend between various stages of the customer journey.
Running ads with precisely targeted audiences is as simple as 1-2-3 since Google Ads is instantly updated whenever you publish a new audience segment.
Need a Digital Marketing Course?
Google Analytics 4 will be a big change but it promises to be a valuable upgrade.
Are you on the hunt for a digital marketing course so you can master GA4? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Contact us today to see what you can learn from us!